The crowd responded to its home heroes. Former Wales captain Gwyn Jones believes the Stormers were affected by the raucous atmosphere.
“You could see it in the Stormers players’ faces,” said Jones.
“They were rattled and had no answers.”
Stormers head coach John Dobson warned his players about the Arms Park cauldron, but they could not tame the vociferous home support.
Dobson had also stated pre-match he was a lover of Welsh rugby and admired the entertainer Max Boyce.
At one point, one of Boyce’s most notable songs, Hymns and Arias, was belted out by the Cardiff crowd.
Boyce also had a famous saying to commemorate special occasions. A simple term. “I was there”.
The Cardiff fans will be glad they were. Dobson and his Stormers? Not so much.
Stormers could yet host Cardiff in the quarter-finals in Cape Town and the South Africans will be a different proposition at home. That is for another day at the end of May.
Cardiff head coach Van Zyl admits this Arms Park epic experience against some of his fellow countrymen was one of the highlights of his career
“Coaching-wise that will be up there,” said van Zyl.
“It was unbelievable for so many reasons.
“If you look at performances of so many individuals, it was massive.
“The boys defended well, fought for the jersey and fans responded to that.”
